Monday, September 7, 2009

First of all it was a bad, bad idea to head to the Santa Cruz on the last day of the free summer. But, I did it anyway and boy did I pay. First off I wanted to go to Hawg's Seafood but, it was closed. Should have known - Holiday weekend and all... So as I got hungrier and hungrier - sat in traffic, waited at lights and got even hungrier... I ended up at a place I used to go to as a kid with my Mom and Nanny.

The Little Tampico Kitchen is a fun memory. Did I remember if the food was good? No. Did I know that it was open and that I was starving (and irritated)? YES! Time to park the car and fix this situation.

We decided to sit on the patio overlooking the beautiful creek... I was sending mind darts to my waiter - "Bring me chips and salsa and no one gets hurt"... amazingly it worked! He scurried over with a pico de gallo and a tomato paste blend. The pico de gallo was good. I ordered a Margarita and it was so horrible that I sent it back. Alcohol is not supposed to taste disugsting and if it does I do not want to drink it. Thanks.

First off, the Carne Asada Taco platter. Yowza, that is a lot of food right? I can say that the carne asada kind tasted a little sour. Not in a marinated in lemon lime kind of way either. Strange. Onto my Cheese Enchilada (supposed to be with extra sauce, but got extra cheese instead) with refried beans and rice. The beans had a baked on coat of cheese as well. So cheesy! The rice was actually pretty decent.

So the Little Tampico Kitchen was not really what I remembered. My Mom said her first Mexican food experince was at the Tampico Kitchen in another Santa Cruz location. That is kind of special I think. The food is pretty marginal but the patio is great. The one thing I did notice on the menu was if you are a vegetarian you can have any of your tacos, enchiladas or burritos filled with spinach or tofu instead of the standard beef or chicken. That is pretty cool. 1.25 thumbs up for a new experience at a fair price.

1 comment:

You went to the Tampico that is just down the street from where my Aunt lived most of her adult life. I grew up eating here, and no, it's not the best food, but my gramma and I always ordered their cheese enchilada and chile relleno, and it was goooood. The creek is part of Soquel creek that my mom used to play in as a little girl. I just love that you went somewhere so special to me, even if it's not the yummiest food around. :)

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Hello Foodies! My name is Melissa and I was born and raised on the California Central Coast but now call Ojai my home. I travel the globe eating out at fabulous restaurants, little dives and secret gems. My husband is a horse trainer and we travel about showing our fantastic show horses throughout the United States. I review restaurants, food products and consult restaurants... Follow Melissa Good Taste on this amazing journey that I am happy to call my life!

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